…Ramjattan tells opposition as gov’t defeats prison fires motion

GOVERNMENT on Wednesday voted down a motion brought by opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Juan Edghill for the National Assembly to call on government to “accept collective responsibility” for the prison fires of 2016 and 2017.

Edghill, who was absent from the House due to a suspension, also called for government to make full disclosure of all aspects of the tragedy at the Georgetown Prison on July 9, and to declare what actions have been and are being taken to reduce the opportunities for such situations re-occurring. His motion was presented by opposition Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira.
Additionally, the opposition MP called on government to disclose the circumstances surrounding the escape of prisoners on July 24, 2017. Subject Minister Khemraj Ramjattan in his rebuttal of the motion, said the motion is of no substance as his administration has not kept any detail a secret about the 2017 prison fire and jail break. Expressing deep concern for what he considered to be misinformation peddled by the opposition, Ramjattan made it clear that “I am not keeping you in the dark; I never do that.”

According to the minister, from the first instance of prison disturbances which led to fire in the Camp Street prison and the death of 17 inmates, all questions posed by the opposition have been answered. He pointed to the Security Committee that the opposition stated is dysfunctional, noting that it was at that same forum that the police commissioner and Heads of Prison and Fire Services provided detailed information to the opposition members.
“Do not come here and say the committee is dysfunctional,” he said. “There have been communication with and serving of documents requested, so they must not come here and say the security committee under Ramjattan is keeping them in the dark,” he continued.
That aside, the Public Security Minister dismissed criticisms of his government not implementing recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Camp Street Prison, chaired by Justice (ret’d) James Patterson. In response to opposition member Priya Manickchand, Ramjattan said, “almost everything [recommendation] in the Commission (report) to a certain extent was adhered to.”

He disclosed that there are a number of consultancies that are to be completed as a result of that CoI and made it clear that calls for another CoI into the July 9 and 24 prison fire and jail break will only be heeded when the two remaining prison escapees are captured. Ramjattan reminded the opposition that while they are casting blame on the government, the prison infrastructure here is old as many of the prisons were built over 100 years ago. The prison infrastructure comprisesf mostly wooden structures.

He explained that because of the outdated prison structure, his administration is in the process of making changes, but noted that such matters take time. “It is very important that we understand that we have done the number in relation to the recommendations.”
Trinidad Company Kee-Chanona Limited in collaboration with Nabi Construction Inc. has been awarded a $3.5B contact for the construction of the new Mazaruni Prison. “Indeed it takes time…you can say what you want, at least we are moving ahead,” said an unmoved Ramjattan. He disclosed too that government single-sourced a firm out of the U.S. that has built over 300 prisons and even built the Guantanamo prison, steel cell.

“Mr Speaker, we are doing that which has to be done,” the minister stated. He said too that works for the modernisation of the outdated prison structures are ongoing. Accepting full responsibility for the prison fires and jail breaks, Ramjattan made it clear that taking responsibility does not mean he has to resign. “I don’t understand why you are trying to set precedent for me when you yourself did not live up to that which you are talking about.”

Efforts he said are continuing by his government to ensure that the country’s security apparatus is strengthened. He explained that the strategic management department of the prison service is in place to ensure there is better administering at the prisons because of the number of rogue prison officers.

“…These things take money and time and all came as a result of what it was recommended by Mr Patterson,” said Ramjattan, who acknowledged “we ought to have done better”. In response to criticisms by the opposition as to where the prisoners were accommodated after the Camp Street prison was flattened, Ramjattan said, there were about 1000 prisoners who were out of their holding facilities. He said the necessity of the situation required that the prisoners be transported to the Lusignan facility.

“We tried to be humane with them and brought them across to the next building opposite the road and they burned that too, so what we’ll do…we had to line them up on the road. The necessity of the situation demanded that. You had to lock them up in the swamp; it was difficult because we didn’t have a place,” said Ramjattan, who noted that the situation was an unusual one that required quick action. Nevertheles, the minister made it clear that things will get better with time.
Stop pretending
Meanwhile, Opposition Chief Whip Teixeira, who presented the motion on behalf of Edghill, described it as being of extraordinary importance. “We have to stop pretending this is just business as usual…this government promised to fix crime and security; this has not been done,” said Teixeira. She argued too that the events of July 9 represent the worst prison fire in the history of the prison system, as it destroyed over 80 per cent of the infrastructure at the Camp Street penitentiary.

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) through its members who spoke, repeatedly called on government to establish a Commission of Inquiry into the July 2017 prison fire and jailbreak.

“Ramjattan should have been made to resign after the death of the prisoners,” said Teixeira, who stressed that more information needs to be made available to the public.
“This is an issue of national importance…no action was taken by the government on any of the recommendations of the CoI…the issue of non-disclosure and having to force you by public pressure,” declared the opposition Chief Whip. She opined that there was an indication that “something was brewing” in the Camp Street prison last year, but due to lack of diligence things spiralled out of control quickly. She noted to that several measures that ought to have been in place were not. She pointed to the lack of simulation exercises as an example.

As Teixeira made her points, Director of Prisons Gladwin Samuels sat across the room paying keen attention. Teixeira said that as a former Minister of Home Affairs who served through two prison disturbances, she is disturbed by the events of 2016 and 2017 at the Camp Street Prisons.

“The issue is leadership and concern, and acting responsibly. You give leadership and you didn’t on that day…if you didn’t do what you were supposed to between March 2016 and July 2017, what you expect to happen?” asked Teixeira. “…The situation that happened on July night was avoidable, could have been managed but you did nothing,” she accused Ramjattan even as she accepted that when her party was in government it “didn’t do enough.” “We won’t say we were the greatest…but we did a lot,” declared the opposition Chief Whip. Other speakers from the opposition included Joseph Hamilton, Pauline Sukhai, Harry Gill, Allister Charlie, Yvonne Pearson, and Gillian Burton.